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Lot Essay
The bowl is well painted in soft tones of blue depicting two four-clawed dragons pacing through clouds and flames above a border of upright lappets. The interior is of pale celadon tone and incised with scrolling lotus encircling a lotus medallion.
The current bowl is very rare with incised decorations on the interior and covered with a pale celadon glaze, while the exterior is painted with slender dragons typically seen on Jiajing imperial porcelains, but with four claws instead of the usual five claws. This suggests the bowl was made for a high-rank nobleman from the princely peerage, possibly a brother or cousin to the emperor. Compare, for example, to a Jiajing-period bowl decorated with underglaze-blue dragons of similar style to the current bowl, and inscribed on the base with the mark 'Jin Fu shang yong', suggesting it was made for the Princely State of Jin, included in the exhibition Kingly Wares: Porcelain for Ming Princely Households, Jingdezhen, 18 October 2021-28 February 2022.
The current bowl is very rare with incised decorations on the interior and covered with a pale celadon glaze, while the exterior is painted with slender dragons typically seen on Jiajing imperial porcelains, but with four claws instead of the usual five claws. This suggests the bowl was made for a high-rank nobleman from the princely peerage, possibly a brother or cousin to the emperor. Compare, for example, to a Jiajing-period bowl decorated with underglaze-blue dragons of similar style to the current bowl, and inscribed on the base with the mark 'Jin Fu shang yong', suggesting it was made for the Princely State of Jin, included in the exhibition Kingly Wares: Porcelain for Ming Princely Households, Jingdezhen, 18 October 2021-28 February 2022.